India vs Australia: Team's decision to sport camouflage caps must be seen as responsible social behaviour, not merely spectacle

Some saw this as a seven-hour bid to whip up frenzy and some called the cricketers pawns. One thing was clear, though — this Indian cricket team will do what it believes in, unmindful of any advrse reactions that its decisions may cause. We saw that in the third One-Day international against Australia when the players wore camouflage caps in honour of the armed forces. Some critics dug out photographs of England all-rounder Moeen Ali wearing wrist bands that had “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” inscribed on them and recalled that ICC had banned him from wearing it during the Test series against India in 2014. They believed that the Indians’ wearing camouflage caps was a similar breach of international rules. [caption id=“attachment_6229201” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Indian cricketers sported camouflage caps in the third ODI against Australia in Ranchi. AFP[/caption] To my mind, they have not been able to see that Moeen Ali was seen as making a political statement that did not concern the team he was representing. On the contrary, the Indian cricketers were paying an emotional tribute to their nation’s armed forces. There was no mention of Pulwama. It should have been accepted as such and left it at that. Some savaged the team for donating only the match fee to the National Defence Fund. They asked the players to open their coffers first and walk the talk, without realising that Mahendra Singh Dhoni had already announced a Rs. 7 crore donation to the families of those killed in the Pulwama attack. They also overlooked the BCCI’s decision to scrap the IPL opening ceremony and donate Rs. 30 crore. As for a Pakistan minister asking the Pakistan Cricket Board to lodge a protest with the International Cricket Council, it is best that we ignore it. What is known that the Ranjan Madugalle, one of the senior-most on the ICC elite panel of match referees, did not stop the Indian cricketers from wearing the camouflage caps. Having said that, as citizens, we do not have to see every move by a bunch of people, not the least by the Indian cricket team, through tinted glasses, do we? Skipper Virat Kohli and his predecessor Dhoni are mature adults who have led a response to a sentiment that has swept the nation in the wake of the terror attack in Pulwama. So, what would have prompted this gesture by the cricketers? Would they have been prodded by the Committee of Administrators to comply? Would some politicians have embedded the idea in their minds and left them to execute it on Friday? Both questions have to be answered in the negative since Kohli and Dhoni were central to the decision. Unfortunately for the Indian cricketers, it was easy for many to mix the BCCI’s attempt to get the world cricket fraternity “to sever ties with countries from which terrorism emanates” with the players’ gesture of wearing camouflage caps and draw conclusions. The team’s decision to pay a tribute to the armed forces was seen against the backdrop of the BCCI’s political misadventure. Of course, the Indian players wore black arm-bands on 24 February – 10 days after the Pulwama attack – when they stepped on the field for their first Twenty20 international in Visakhapatnam against Australia. Had they worn the camouflage caps in that game, few would have said the critical, even uncomplimentary, things they did when the team decided to do this in Dhoni’s home town, Ranchi. Today’s Indian cricketers have not hesitated to join in and express themselves on social causes. From polio to women’s empowerment, the players have been very vocal, aware of the influencers’ role that they play, especially in social media. We must see the team decision to wear camouflage caps as responsible social behaviour rather than merely drama. Curiously, we heard no criticism when Kohli’s gloves and pads were tinged pink during the New Years’ Day Test in Sydney. Why, even his bat-maker’s label was in pink. Nobody said a word when the Australian cricketers wore pink caps instead of the customary Baggy Green that day, as they have been doing for 11 years now to raise awareness of breast cancer. Come to think of it, we did not hear even a murmur of protest when South Africa hosts a Pink ODI in the Wanderers in Johannesburg each year. These are good examples of the thought the legendary West Indies sociologist CLR James left us with: Cricket is not played in a vacuum and reflects the society in which it is played. Digressing just that bit more, when the Australian cricketers visited Gallipoli in Turkey where 9000 Australian soldiers lost their lives during World War I, everyone saw it as object lesson in history and a great team-bonding exercise. Australian captain Steve Waugh saw similarities in cricket and army like camaraderie, discipline, commitment and the importance of following a plan. Come to think of it, those of us on the outside may never fully comprehend the Indian cricketers’ connect with the armed forces. Followed and eulogised by millions, the cricketers have always remembered that the real heroes are those who serve the nation selflessly, both in at times of war and in peace. This was one more way for the team to communicate its respect for the armed forces. One of Indian cricket’s biggest heroes, Kapil Dev went to the Base Hospital in Srinagar with Ajay Jadeja at the height of the Kargil war in 1999 and was moved by what he saw there. To this day, he will not have forgotten the plea of the army personnel he met in the hospital. Nor, for that matter, would he have forgotten how emotionally connected they were with the cricket team. As for the criticism that they have had to cop for wearing camouflage caps, the contemporary Indian players have spent nearly all their careers with the international side learning to back themselves and their beliefs. It is likely that they will not let any strident, shrill voices affect their love for the country’s armed forces.